Need an early holiday fix. Sample sale season is still join on the the NYC and there are a couple a good ones this week too.

I love Nicholas K and can always find something edgy and modern at their sample sales. The same goes for Opening Ceremony. You want low prices then you go on the last day but run the risk of everything wing picked over. You want those great finds then my advice is to go on the first or second days. Either way you'll be sure to plunder something. Check out the info for both sales below.

With all the traveling, deadlines, gift-buying, revelry, eating, game-watching, gift-giving and more eating that will be going on for the holidays, there's one more thing to be thankful for. Yes, yes, yes of course you're thankful for health, family, warmth, generosity blah blah blah but let's keep it real right now. With all the aforementioned in addition to the holiday season's frenetic pace, cold weather woes and über-marketing shenanigans aren't we also very thankful for that special partaking. Not any Secret Santa exchange or singing caroles as a family or even gathering around the hearth. True gratefulness is the ability to make all the revelry seem not so draining with the partaking of a nice stiff cocktail.

Un-festive? Hardly! The holiday season would not be complete without the traditional egg nog, hot toddies or glogg. However, if those are or aren't your things, then why not create your own personal holiday spirit with the spirit of your choice. I know I'd like to see my number one drink choices of tequila and whiskey don something more festive after it fills up my glass. Recently, I had the distinct pleasure of sampling a Four Roses, a full and fragrant single barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. Then I imbibed in the crisp, smooth fresh punch of Casa Noble's Triple distilled Reposado Tequila. The following two recipes offer a great tasting familiar and a shake up to the mundane holiday offerings and will most assuredly make the holidays less "ugh" and more "ahh".

Four Calling Birds (recipe from Jay Silverman from Agave, NY)

1.5 oz Casa Noble Reposado

1 oz Manzanilla Sherry

Old

-

Fashioned Eggnog

6 eggs

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 pint cream

1 pint milk

2 cups Four Roses

Small Batch

1 oz. aged Jamaica rum

Beat the yolks and whites of 6 eggs separately. Add 1/2 cup of sugar

they have been beaten very stiff. Combine the egg whites with the

3/4 oz Apricot Liqueur

Lime Zest

Stir together the tequila, sherry and apricot liqueur until chilled and serve straight up in a martini glass or on the rocks. Using a zester or microplane garnish with lime zest.

Old-Fashioned Egg Nog

6 eggs

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 pint cream

1 pint milk

2 cups Four Roses Whiskey

1 oz aged Jamaican Rum

Beat the yolks and white of 6 eggs separately. Add 1/2 cup of sugar to the yolks while beating. Add 1/4 cup os sugar to the whites after they have been beaten very stiff. Combine the egg whites with the yolks. Pour in cream and milk, as well as the bourbon and rum. Stir thoroughly. Serve very cold with grated nutmeg and/or cinnamon.

Macaroni and Cheese. Mashed Potatoes. Warm Apple Pie. Hearty Country Stew. Lasagna. Classic and rustic. All-American and cozy. Hefty and filling. Comfort foods have rarely changed although they are often tweaked by 'Auntie This' or 'Nana That' with spices and pantry secrets. They almost seem to stick by a set of rules to achieve that comfort factor with the ensuing result of such rules being a happy case of 'on the couch'-itis. While issues may have arisen like the 'free-zoning' (gluten, dairy, sugar, etc.), there always seems to be that satisfaction factor that is always sought out with a good comfort food no matter what ingredient you have to omit or substitute.

As you get older and times change you personally tweak your comfort food choices to suit the areas of your life that you have come to swear by for culinary nirvana. So it makes sense that as flavors become more accessible on a global level, we adopt them into our rotation for greater stomach satisfaction. For me personally, I have come to love my cured meats, cheesy everything and a well-made cocktail. Bacon not only makes me salivate but it mentally satisfies me as well as a great pizza with a delicious array of tantalizing toppings. Then round everything off with a great 'lay back and relax in my chair' Old Fashioned, G & T, Dark & Stormy or Margarita.

I recently discovered some new foods to add to my comfort food rotation. My new comfort foods are from the over 70 year old New York-based master charcuterie of Schaller & Weber. Before you Google charcuterie just know that basically this company does meat and does it well. A world of 'wursts', sausages for the gods and brats with bite are among just a few of the things that Schaller & Weber has been succeeding at since 1937. They offer a bevy of culinary meat varieties like great sausages, amazing cold cuts, flavorful salamis & cervelats and unforgettable cooked & smoked meats. Then since you can't have meats without the trimmings, Schaller & Weber offers delicious mustards, pickles and sauerkrauts as well.

That night I discovered my new comfort, I fell in love in particular with two facets of the company that keeps them winning awards. They offer deliciously smooth and rich pâtés & spreads, one of which I absolutely fell in love with at first bite. Their Liver Pâté with Truffles is just simply out of the world good. The fragrant distinct truffle doesn't overpower the full iron flavor and delightfully light texture of the liver. They both conspired to make a really noteworthy pâté. The second comfort no brainer that night was Schaller & Weber's Double Smoked Bacon. Perfectly smoky & sinful and wonderfully salty & flavorful, this had to be quite possibly the best bacon I had ever tasted (and let me tell ya', poppa has tasted his share of bacons).

You can't let just anyone determine comfort for you or anything define comfort for you. Your comfort foods have to speak to what makes you comfortable and what satisfies you. The winning line-up from Schaller & Weber coupled with their tenure in the world of charcuterie is what seals the deal and makes the comfort-factor believable. Next is the taste. The satisfying taste. Get comfy!

Schaller & Weber products are available now online here, at the address below and select locations nationwide. Check the list of restaurants and retailers here.

So it should be no surprise that I fully support the notion that shoes make the world go round. They're the cherry toppers, that finishing touch and the often overlooked bit of something that makes or breaks an outfit. Men express themselves with ties, pocket squares, hats, cuff links and color but let's never forget the lower halves of our bodies. Shoes express and inspire and continue to provide a telling look at the mind of the well-dressed man.

With that said, why not add to your shoe collection? I know I will starting the 18th as United Nude will have one of their largest sample sales ever in New York City. Charismatic, whimsical, dapper and refreshing, United Nude's footwear always walks the good lines of design and comfort. Check out the deets below:

At
the end of the day I usually unpack my bag and see what story it has to
tell. Maybe it's the on-the-go New Yorker in me, but the contents of
my bag can at most times sum up my day. The taxi receipts, the
sometimes forgotten to-do list, the PR paraphernalia, the PR swag or
even that magazine I meant to peruse through usually come tumbling out.
It's at this point that I recollect actually buying this or that or
going to one event or several. Perhaps conveniently forgetting my day
until it's strewn all over my bed is a New Yorker thing too. I could be
waiting to be surprised by something or may have been too preoccupied
to deal with that something then, so into the bag it went. Well the how
and why is usually not as important as the eventually sifting through
it for had it not been for my cross-body or hand held bottomless pit it
would all have never reached home in the first place.

While
every need for the 'Sherpa'-like bag may not be on every man's list,
there is something to be said of a bag that can both house my day and
still leave me looking appropriate for the affair. Sometimes I never
know how my day will unfold or where it will leave me exhausted and
battered but I'd also like to think that everything I tote with me that
represents me could take the sophisticated licking too. It could be a
simple evening of a few events or a full day in & out of
appointments, rush hours, cabs and subways. The life of this New York
stylist/menswear reporter is usually only stylish at the destination.

Perhaps
this is one reason I like Martella Bags. They're designed with the
intent to help one get through their day without sacrificing the fact
that good design is, well, designed. So they have architecturally arched
bags (Rotondo) that can be carried by hand until too heavy so then you conveniently
turn it into a cool backpack. Do the same with the compartmentalized
soft briefcase (Due Terzzi) and possibly pull a two part document holder (Gemelli) out of it
for that quick lunchtime press preview. However, just make sure to
carry the strap that conveniently turns the docu-holder into a tote
since you may have to grab lunch on the fly before heading back to the
office.

The
scenarios the were conceived by Martella's designer Idan Yosefov are
well hatched and considerate of the possible changing outcomes of a
person's full day. This is why not only do his exquisite leather bags
allow a person to adjust them to suit their ever-changing day, but they
also have a non-gender appeal to them. His bags like the Rotondo, Cavallini or the Vecchietto in rich quality skins or even a shiny crisp pony hair appeal to the tactile and visual sensibitlities of individuals rather than a specific gender. Yosefov realizes that attaching a label to what is a man's bag or a women's bag is societal but that the bags that house our lives should be more personal and connect with our inner needs and desires.

My
scenario is that I actually own Martella's wonderful natural color leather Doctors bag. Last Wednesday I had a round of press previews to attend
while subsequently preparing for my Halloween festivities. Not only did
my Doctors Bag house the brochures from the day, but also some 'day to day' sundries, two bottles of gifted tequila that I wasn't even expecting from a dear
friend and part of my Halloween costume. Then the sweet little design
detail so thoughtfully attached to the bottom of the bag discreetly
housed my mini umbrella since the chance of rain was high. That's the
appeal of Martella bags; it makes thinking about how to house the
effects of your day a little easier while remaining savvy, functional and attractive. Which in a
sense is kind of how I want my day to turn out anyway.

Think of a traditional African print and you'll probably think of kente cloth. You know, that horizontally and graphically striped multicolor fabric organized in narrow strips of the beautiful colors of the earth like orange, red, brown, green and blue that signify African craftsmanship and tradition. However, also don't forget the bevy of stamping, dyeing and wax resist techniques that conspire to create the vividly patterned colorful wonderments that are African textiles. Dashikis, djellabas, kaftans, grand bou bous and kanzus may be rendered with wonderful color or print or simple clean textured silks, cottons or woolens. These are all visually and distinctively African, traditional and recognized by each generation as the garbs worn by their families and the like.

However, fast forward to today and what happens when influence and artistry creep into the borders and confines of what is traditional and recognized. An antiquated perspective of African style is, well, antiquated. Cultures from all the hemispheres have had influences on all the world stages and the collective countries of Africa have been no exception. There's burgeoning hip-hop inspired artists like Wiz Kid out of Nigeria, the cult-like influence of the 'Les Éléphants' soccer team from the Ivory Coast and the striking beauties and handsome gents to hit the runways out of Ethiopia and Sudan. Then most recently during the last New York Fashion Week I had the pleasure of discovering the polished and honorific aesthetic of Angola's Projecto Mental.

Projecto Mental is an artistic mash-up of the patented sides of tailoring with the cultivated sides of traditional Africana. What we're used to seeing fashioned up on dashikis and djellabas the duo of Shunnoz Fiel and Tekasala Ma'at Nzinga make up in pristinely tailored trousers and blazers with a creative edge for Projecto Mental.

Take their Spring 2015 Collection for example. It was a collection of taking the colors and subtle silhouettes of traditional Angolan garb and merging them with the efforts of classic tailoring. Then once that was achieved the creativity of the inspired duo took form with forward nods in construction through slight cut and proportion. What's always interesting from a non-American fashion collection is the lack of focus on perceived Western male familiarities. With Projecto Mental's vantage point, an idea of masculinity that is often met with skepticism by the American male consumer takes a familiar shape. For example, much of American mens clothing encircles at the waist to emphasize the strength of the shoulders and V-torso. Clothing that extends below the waist, such as with fuller tunic and kaftan lengths, are very common for men to don outside of the US.

Projecto Mental's presence at a New York Fashion Week suggested a necessary bridge of Western and Eastern. The combination of the familiar masculine tailoring aesthetic with familiar masculine Africana aesthetic created a dialogue that celebrated masculinities of several cultures. Presumed male dress patterns are being challenged in the US slowly but surely as designers seek ways to celebrate the cross-cultural influences of world societies and hyper-gender references. As more informed and astute men seek ways to veer outside the box, Projecto Mental's presence in New York with their first US show is one I would say was a case of the right place and right on time.

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About Me

David White is a New York-based Wardrobe Stylist, Fashion Consultant, Men's Lifestyle and Fashion Reviewer.
Jacket Optional, Shoes Required illustrates his unique perspectives on mens fashion and lifestyle based on his personal ride through life and the industry. He believes that effective fashion should not overpower one's persona but rather work in equilibrium with it in creating a solid platform for the true individual to shine through with strength and confidence.